LohaN: "We're actually the best teams in Europe right now."

Note: This article is a text port of our live interview with LohaN . The video interview can be found here.

Can you give me a brief overview of how you're feeling right now?

I'm feeling really good, honestly. It's really good [to] see the players when they [played] today; I think probably the best showing all year from the team. I think we really trusted each other. It was really nice to see. After yesterday's game, yes, we were happy that we qualified to Champions, but we know that [we] can do better. Our attack sides yesterday were not good and [we had a] good talk today and yesterday trying to fix these issues and I think today they showed the difference. Everyone believed, everyone trusted the direction I [wanted to] take and it was amazing to see.

You guys were on the verge of not qualifying to Champions. You were getting close to maybe not making it. How did it feel in that small period of time when you guys were fighting for survival in the lower bracket? How did that whole ordeal and process feel for you?

It's always stressful, you know, I think this year was [full of] a lot of ups and downs. We did good in Kickoff, in Masters, not so well. Stage 1, it was a bit of a mess. I think here I need to [take] a bit of accountability. I think in Stage 1 the direction wasn't clear enough for the team. Then, we have two players taking a break which also wasn't ideal, so it was very hard, [especially] at the start of the Stage 1, understands the win conditions understands how we can achieve the goal of qualifying to Champions and once we knew we need to qualify through the lower brackets we felt I mean, I think we had a really good mental preparation honestly, and I think the boys did amazing the environment side of thing is really good and everyone trust each other trust other actions trust the vision and you know the day I think a lot of people doubted that this roster would be able to achieve this and right now we are fighting for top one in Europe, which is very good to see.

You have actually won a Stage 2 trophy before. What's it like knowing that tomorrow you'll be fighting for your second?

It feels amazing, honestly. I really want to get this trophy. One of the reasons is because historically, [over] the last two years, every time we go [an] international, we get grouped. Hopefully we can change that. But if we cannot, at least I want to have another one in the bag. Tomorrow's going to be a hard game. I don't expect in any way an easy game. I think KC, together with us, we're actually the best teams in Europe right now. But let's see, I'm quite excited for tomorrow.

Speaking of that match, it's against the team that didn't perform well, and then all of a sudden they just go on this run to qualify [to] Champions. How important do you think it is that a team might [not be] as good earlier in the year, but [eventually] ramp up their performance and start getting these results ahead of Shanghai?

I mean, it's really good. I think honestly, I'm super surprised with KC [and] ZE1SH as well. I think he did an amazing job with the team. [At the] end of the day, it's not about the past, it's about you understanding what happened in the past and understanding what you need to fix for the future so you can actually get the results that [you] want. I think the change in coach made a big difference for them and they are playing something that's unique to them. They're not trying to copy LEVIATÁN or Paper Rex or any other team that's doing good right now. They're doing their own thing and that's legitimate, that's really good from them.

Are you guys doing your own thing in the sense of not really trying to chase after the results, comps, playstyles of these other [teams] and do you think if you are that is why you guys have been performing this well regionally?

100%. Obviously, I think a lot of team struggle is here because they didn't adjust to the meta. It's not even the meta, I think it's the way the game is evolving. It's not so much about macro, it's much more about micro and Europe has always been a region that's really good on macro. Real good. I think a lot of teams just decided to completely ignore this. Right now I think our comps are not good; we're playing Jett [on] almost every map. Our comps are not the best, and [we] understand that. We're playing leaning much more [toward] comfortability. But with comfortability comes good micro because the players know how to play their agents. They know how, so they can always adjust to the XYZ situations. Obviously, there's some macro fundamentals that you need to uphold in a lot of the maps, but today, right now, as the matter is, micro is the most important thing. If a player cannot play Neon, I'm not gonna play Neon. That's it.

Let's look to tomorrow. I was talking to Bambino earlier and he said that there are some rounds where you'll need some magic to win. Just solely [relying] on the shooters. Do you guys think you're going to need magic tomorrow? Or do you guys think that you'll be pretty prepared?

I'm quite sure we'll need that tomorrow. I think it's going to be a very exciting game. Hopefully a close game. I don't want to stomp either way; either us or them. I want a close game. I think [magic is] going to happen a lot. I'm quite sure, especially because [of] the way both of us play the game. I think it's there's going to be a lot of windows for those moments to happen.

Let's look at Shanghai now. You said you've been grouped at internationals before [and are] hoping to avoid it this year. In terms of Shanghai, are there any teams that you would like to match up [against]? [Do] you think you would play well against [some] or maybe not want to match up against [others]?

I mean I want to play against the easy teams. That's it. Hopefully we can get out of the groups. I think Paper Rex lost today, right? Which means they are the third seed. So actually, coming into an international as the first seed, I'm not sure if that's a good thing. Even LEVIATÁN [are] in the lower bracket right now. I think Paper Rex [and] LEVIATÁN [are] probably the two best teams in the world right now, right? So, let's see. It's good that we are now trying to win [in] Europe, but it's not so good that we might get really good teams in our group. Hopefully the gods give us a slightly easier group because it's going to be tough. We're going to do the best that we can, we're going to prepare as much as we can. I have some ideas on how to approach Shanghai, but let's see. I'm excited.

How are you guys [going to] prepare for it specifically [regardless of the result tomorrow]? [Are] you [going to] relax, throw in some training, make sure you guys mentally reset?

I think next time we have an interview I can tell you, but we have something different that we're going to do this year. Let's see if it works because it's the fifth in two years for me and the other four didn't work.